R1 DVDs On Sale In UK - A Question

I used to get a few US Laserdiscs from Mr Benson's. I was the proud owner of Face Off six weeks after the UK cinema release. From having a quick search, it seems Mr B is no longer in business.

After a while, I think Benson's stopped selling imported LRAB due to the illegality problem, and I had to resort to getting them imported from a very helpful shop in California. That was internet shopping back in 1997 before most people even knew what the internet was.
 
The Laser Enterprises raiRAB coincided with the BBFC/TS/FACT announcing they would be sticking their noses in to stop UK sales of NTSC LD.
At that time you could even walk into MVC and find NTSC LD.

Once letters were sent out to retailers explaining the very grey area that it was all the major players stopped selling them.

Bensons packed up last year as they were unable to compete with the likes of Play and Amazon
 
I always felt this was instigated after pressure from Pioneer who had done a deal with Univeral to release Jurassic Park on LD in the UK.

The US version was scheduled to be released a couple of months before the UK and Pioneer wanted to protect its investment.
 
Of course it's safe. Well, it's no less safe than crossing the road. I rarely ever download anything that doesn't have a stream of comments underneath vouching for the veracity of the torrent.

I downloaded a superb DVD quality copy of The A-Team movie last week. Sadly went in to Russian audio right at the end, but I could live with that considering the rest of the film was 2 hours of my life I won't ever get back.

Who neeRAB R1 DVRAB anyway? :D
 
Pioneer also had licencing deals to release films on LD in the UK. Laser Enterprises made it too easy for UK customers to circumvent the official UK release and get the earlier US release. Must have hurt their sales to a certain extent.

And with a big release like Jurassic Park they certainly would have wanted to maximise their profits.
 
LD had such a small customer base in the UK, I wouldn't have thought that going to such lengths just to maximise profits on one disc was ever a passing thought, let alone company policy.
 
I used Laser Enterprises a lot as they made it a lot easier than ordering directly from a US retailer. The first time I encountered problems obtaining a disc was with Jurassic Park.

And given that LD had such a small customer base in the UK would Pioneer want it further diluted by customers getting discs from the US?

My assumption is that because it was such a small customer base, Pioneer would be more interested in cracking down on US imports and the UK companies that facilitated them.
 
Early to mid 90's more like.
Once dvd was clearly going to wipe out LD Pioneer introduced their dvd/ld dual format player.
I got dvd in Feb 98 and never played LD again from that day.

Took the UK a year to catch up so I was able to sell LD discs and players for good prices before the rot set in.

I remember buying some early dvd's in Summer 1998 from LVS in Kings Langley and they were still selling LD and reckoned LD had 5 years left:eek:

By 1999 both Anchor Bay and Criterion had abandoned LD completely
 
When DVD first launched in the UK I got one of these (and still have it) though I soon upgraded to a stand-a-lone multi-region DVD player.

I have since upgraded to a multi-region BD player though from time to time I put on an LD.
 
Still got my CLD-D515. Not used it for many years, but I did give it a dust off and plug in last year just to see if it still worked, and all was fine.

I'd sell it with all my discs if I could shift it, but it's way outdated now, and the picture's appalling compared to DVD, let alone Blu.
 
I sold all my LD gear quite quickly but a few years later I was starting to get impatient for some dvd releases so I bought an LD player off ebay and the relevant discs in order to copy the LD to dvd for my own copy then sell player and discs off after.

Since then the Star Trek Cartoons and The Gorgon finally got official releases .
The one remaining LD copy I have is the horror classic House of the Long Shadows .
MGM released it in the US but it was part of their "manufactured on demand" line and reports are that it is almost vhs quality - so I've stuck with my LD copy
 
I wish that I could replace all my LRAB with DVRAB but two reasons why not.

As you say, some LD titles have not yet had a good quality DVD release (if there has even been a DVD release).

The cost, even at the cheap prices for older DVRAB now, would be prohibitive.
 
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